Say Anything
by luminarayne
Summary: Akari, being relatively new to Waffle Island, has already made two new friends: Bo and Anissa. But when she meets a certain blue haired carpenter, as well as other men of the island, things start to get a little crazy for everyone...
1. Bo to the Rescue

"You'd think after being here a week I'd figure out how to move a horse. But, noooo! Stupid horse…"

Akari leaned against her black, Arabian horse, Frannie, whose previous name was Francesca. Akari didn't feel a pretty name like that should be wasted on this awful excuse for a horse.

"C'mon, move! I'm tired, it's late, and I just wanna go to beh-heh-heddd!" whined Akari, now pushing against her horse with what little energy she had left.

Frannie had had enough of Akari's constant and pathetic attempts to get her to budge, so she took a large step to the left causing Akari to fall face first into the somewhat muddy field. Frannie made her way over to the barn, not giving her owner a second glance.

Akari lay in the dirt, muttering somewhat audible profanities, when she heard a pair of footsteps approaching her.

"Well, well farm girl, I knew your type got down in the dirt, but this is on a whole new level."

Akari looked up, squinting mud out of her eyes, to see Bo's smiling face peering down at her.

"Psht, well…" Akari couldn't think of a good come back, so she gave up and let her head hit the mud with a small slapping sound. "Ahm nuh goo ah dis" Akari sighed, her voice muffled in the mud.

Bo smiled to himself and leaned down towards his farming compadre. "Hey, don't beat yourself up. It's your first week…and if it makes you feel better, you're the best farmer I've ever met."

Akari lifted her head from the mud, her eyes sporting bored annoyance. "I'm the _only_ farmer you've ever met."

Bo smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Well, yeah…but still that has to count for something, right?" He gave her a reassuring smile as he held out his hand to her.

Akari huffed, but willingly accepted the literal pick-me-up. He handed her a small towel he had been carrying around his neck.

She quickly swiped the mud off her face and began ushering her chickens into the coop.

"You know", Bo began as he followed her around the farm, "You should really take a break from your farm work for a day and maybe start familiarizing yourself with the town…"

"Impossible" Akari huffed, "I have so much work to do around here there's no TIME for a break, not if I want to get everything done. The townspe-OOF!"

Akari tripped over a small rock, going head first into a pile of chicken feed. Bo couldn't stop himself from laughing as he helped poor Akari onto her feet…again. Akari spit a few stray kernels onto the ground while dusting herself off.

This constant tripping over everything had become routine for Akari.

"As I was SAYING" She started again, ignoring Bo's stifled laughter, "the townspeople can wait. I'm far too busy to give up any part of my day for a 'hello' or small talk."

Akari had finally finished tidying up the farm for the night and walked towards her house, Bo in tow. She began shedding parts of her clothing as they continued their conversation.

"But you know", Bo tried again, mechanically picking up each item she shed onto the floor, "it's no fun just having one friend…not saying that I don't enjoy being your friend or anything."

Akari ignored him and plopped down in her big puffy recliner, exasperatedly blowing a stray clump of hair from her face.

"Just _think_ about it, ok?"

"…I don't know…and hey I have more than one friend! Nissy is also my friend…so I have TWO, thank you very much!"

"I still think you should expand your social horizons a bit farther than me and Anissa. So tomorrow I'm taking you away from this farm and out into society whether you like it or not."

"…No thanks. I'll pass."

Bo shook his head as he finished putting her things away. She really wasn't getting it. "Akari, like I said, I'm taking you whether you like it or not. You're coming with me. I know the town is wondering who the new farmer is…it would be polite to introduce yourself. I know you don't _really _want to live in isolation like this forever."

Akari kept her eyes shut, but Bo could see she was thinking it over.

"Fine…but it's just because I don't want to seem rude…"

Bo smiled and clapped his hands together. "Good! You won't regret it, Akari!"

He turned towards her pathetic little kitchen and started doing a few of the dishes in the sink.

"There are so many great people on this island that I'm sure you'll be friends with in no time! I'll take you through Town first, then through Maple Lake District, Brownie Ranch, and then through the Ganache Mine District where I work with my uncle and cousin. I'm sure my cousin will like to meet you, although I don't know if you'd like him. He's kind of loud, but nice, I guess. And I'm sure you…"

Bo turned around to find Akari fast asleep in her chair. He smiled to himself. She looked so peaceful…and quiet.

He sighed and grabbed a blanket from the closet, draping it over her. He then removed her shoes and put them by the door. As he opened the door and held his finger over the light switch, he looked back at her one last time.

"Goodnight, Akari"

And the house went dark.


	2. Socially Inept

The next day seemed to linger two times its worth.

Bo arrived at Akari's house a little after six in the morning to make sure she was ready to go. He was sure she'd at least be awake by now.

Bo was wrong.

Akari was still in the same place he had left her the previous night. Bo sighed. It was going to be quite the eventful day.

After trying to shake her awake and failing, Bo picked her up to put her on her feet. She was surprisingly light, almost like lifting a measly five pound weight.

He tried setting her on the floor, but she half-consciously refused and clung to him tighter. He shook his head slightly. What would he do with this girl?

Eventually he woke her up enough so she was able to stand up by herself and guided her to her bathroom, turned on the shower, and exited, closing the door behind him, hoping she wouldn't slip and drown herself in her bathtub or something.

He made her a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs after she had finished getting ready and they finally left the house by nine.

Their first stop was the Sundae Inn.

The bells on the door jingled as Bo and Akari stepped in. Akari had finally woken up, but she didn't seem the same as she did when she was on her farm. She was quiet. Bo couldn't believe his ears.

Everyone in the Inn looked up from what they were doing and, when they saw Akari, rushed over immediately. Bo glanced at Akari out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't believe what he saw on her face.

Fear.

"Welcome to the Sundae Inn! My name is Jake and this is my family!" The gray haired man gestured to the row of people standing next to him.

A beautiful red (more like orange) haired woman smiled warmly at Akari. "My name is Colleen. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. This is my daughter Maya, the waitress (a young girl smiled and waved at Akari), and this is my mother in law Yolanda, the head chef (an older stout woman with unusual pink hair smiled)."

They all stared at Akari, smiles plastered on their faces, waiting for her to introduce herself.

"I…it's a pleasure to meet you…I'm Akari, the new farmer…but I'm sure you already knew that since, I mean, this town has nothing better to talk about considering it's so small…oh, but I didn't mean its not a _nice _town I was just suggesting there might not be anything new going on that would be considered worth talking about besides my arrival…not that I'm NARCISSISTIC or anything I just assumed…but I guess you should NEVER assume because EVERYONE KNOWS ASSUMING MAKES AN ASS OUT OF YOU AND ME!"

Their pleasant smiles had turned to expressions of confusion and concern. Akari looked from one shocked face to the next, and attempted to smile, but the end result was something resembling a grimace.

Bo covered his face with his hand, not wanting to look at this disastrous scene. An eventful day…an eventful day indeed.

Bo led Akari out of the Inn. He had no idea she was so awkward around people. He had never witnessed her act that way in the entire week and two days he'd known her.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were awk…not a people person?"

Akari scowled slightly up at him. "It's embarrassing, okay? I've never been good with people, especially if they're clumped in groups. I feel outnumbered…and if I'm expected to say something or if there's an awkward silence, I start rambling. Usually I don't stop until I'm forced to… it's awful."

Akari scowled to herself, folding her arms across her chest, and looked down at the ground, blushing.

Bo didn't know what to do. She was obviously embarrassed and…it even seemed that she felt self conscious. Surely this wasn't the time for a quick comment or witty remark.

"Hey…don't worry about it ok? I won't take you anywhere else today…I wouldn't have made you do that if I had known…I'm sorry Akari."

"It's not your fault that I'm so socially inept. Besides, I should have told you…nothing to be sorry about."

Bo glanced at her. Her hair had fallen in front of her face, but he knew she was still upset. Without thinking, Bo wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his side.

Akari peeked up at Bo through her hair. He certainly wasn't hitting on her or anything of the like. She could tell just by the way he moved. A small smile touched her lips as she leaned her head against him for the walk up through Maple Lake and into the Ganache Mine District.


	3. Carpenter Blues and a Mr BooBear

"I know I told you we weren't visiting any other people today, but if you want we could stop in at Bagel Carpentry and grab something to drink. I'll do all the talking for you if you want. It's just my uncle and cousin, I'm sure they won't try to bother you…well Luke might, he's my cousin, but other than that you'll be left alone. What do you say?"

Bo smiled down at Akari, watching her think it over. His smile slightly fell when he saw worry flash across her face. They were just rounding the corner, passing the blacksmith's shop.

"Akari," Bo stopped walking and placed his hands on Akari's shoulders, making her face him, "If you don't want to go in, we really don't have to. I hate seeing you all nervous and upset and it's just not worth going in to get some drinks if it's just going to upset you."

Akari couldn't look him in the eye. She knew she was being ridiculous. How could a few people frighten her so badly? It's not like they were mean and she was sure Bo's family wasn't that way either. She hated making a fool of herself, absolutely hated it…

"Akari…?" Bo was worried now. She could sense it in his voice…she didn't want to worry him with such a fickle matter as this.

Akari lifted her gaze from the ground and put on a big smile, obviously fake, but a smile nonetheless.

"What are you talking about?! Of course I want to go in! I'm not nervous anymore, I'm fine, REALLY! C'mon let's go!"

Akari grabbed Bo's arm and began to march toward the carpentry shop, head held high and a smile plastered across her face. Bo stumbled after her, wondering why she was suddenly acting this way.

With Bo right behind her, Akari reached for the doorknob to the Bagel Carpentry. Her heart was going a million miles a minute, but she wasn't going to let Bo know how scared she really was. She could do this. She could definitely do this.

As she opened the door, a blast of sawdust hit Akari square in the face. There were two huge gasps, only one Akari could identify as Bo's.

"Oh my Goddess I am so sorry I was finishing this chair for the mayor and a gust of wind came through the window and oh my Goddess are you ok did it get in your eyes can you see oh my goddess you could be BLIND now and IT WOULD BE ALL MY FAULT CRAP CRAP CRAP I AM SO SORRY!!!"

Akari spit out bits of sawdust and turned her head to where the voice was coming from. She squinted through the thin layer of sawdust on her face to see an outline of a tall blue haired boy. Akari felt a cloth being pressed into her hand and a small exasperated sigh that could only belong to Bo.

Akari carefully wiped the sawdust off her face and opened her eyes to find a pair of inhuman yellow-gold eyes staring directly into hers, only inches away.

"EEEEP!!!" Akari squealed and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. She had never seen such frightening eyes in her life and it had taken her a second to figure out that they didn't belong to a monster as she had originally imagined.

The blue haired boy jumped back at her sudden outburst and fell into a chair. The chair then tipped over backwards and the boy ended up in a heap on the floor, a few muffled groans audible from behind the chair.

Akari's eyes became even wider and she clamped her other hand over her mouth. She hurriedly followed Bo over to where the monster-eyed boy lay. Bo helped him into a sitting position, the boy now rubbing the back of his head with his face scrunched as if in pain.

"I-I'm so sorry…" was all Akari could mutter, now embarrassed beyond imagine. The boy looked up at her with those golden monster-like (Akari now realized they were more cat-like than monster) eyes and flashed an unexpected smile.

"It's no problem, happens all the time." The boy picked himself off the floor and dusted off some sawdust from his jeans. "Why'd you scream like that though? It's like you saw a ghost or something…scared the crap out of me!"

His eyes locked with hers and chills ran down her spine. She knew he wasn't a monster but his eyes still had a hypnotizing effect. They were so piercing…so intimidating…

Bo nudged her with his arm and she immediately came out of her trance-like state. "Oh, I…I wasn't expecting anyone to be that close to my face." She shifted her eyes to the floor so as not to be caught by those eyes. "It scared me…I'm sorry I didn't mean to scream. Are you alright?"

The boy continued to dust himself off and readjust his bandana. "Hmm…everything seems to be fine. Don't worry about it I fall all the time. That was nothing compared to normal, right Boo-bear?"

Bo glared at the blue haired boy as Akari burst out laughing. "Buh-buh-BOO-BEAR?! HAHAHAHAHHA!!! THAT'S SO ADORA-BUH-HUH-HLE!! HAHAHAHA!! BOO-BEAR!!"

"…I hate you, Luke…"

"BOOOOOO-BEARRR!!! AHAHAHA!"

Luke smiled an easy, innocent smile at Bo and shrugged his shoulders as Akari finally started to calm down. "I can't help that you've never told…uh, wow I'm sorry what's your name?"

Akari wiped a few tears of laughter from her eyes as she continued to openly smile. Bo…Boo-Bear…hahaha! "My name's Akari, the new farmer. Well, not really _new_, considering I've been here for a little more than a week."

Akari looked up to find Luke smiling at her, his eyes sparkling. Oh Goddess, not the eyes…

"So you're the girl Boo-Bear's been mentioning all week!" (Akari's attention was drawn away from his eyes as she went into a small fit of giggles when she heard him say "Boo-Bear" again.)

"Yessir, that'd be me. I've been so busy with my farm I haven't been able to get out and meet people. Bo's the only one who comes to visit poor little ol' me and my farm of rebellious, hateful animals."

Luke continued to smile and shook his head. "I'm sure they don't hate you!" Akari rolled her eyes and smiled. "You'd be surprised. My horse is out to make my life miserable."

Bo smiled at the fact that Akari was talking to his cousin without so much as a twitch or sign of awkward rambling. He walked into the kitchen and poured three glasses of lemonade.

He put them all on a tray and came out into the main carpentry area to find Akari in a fit of giggles and Luke laughing his booming, yet lighthearted, laugh.

When Akari saw Bo walking in, she immediately started guffawing and fell to the floor. Bo looked over to Luke and gave him a glare. "What else have you said about me?"

Akari hiccupped over a laugh. "A SQUIRREL SCARED YOU UP A TREE HAHAHAHAHA!!"

"He also got stuck in the tree because his pants got caught on a branch. Poor Boo-Bear had to slip out of them and run back home in his tighty whities. Maya saw him and started screaming bloody murder, attracting the attention of EVERYONE at the festival. It was priceless." Luke finished as Akari scrunched into a ball on the floor, holding her sides and laughing up at Bo.

Bo turned bright pink, not sure what to do with himself. Why was Luke embarrassing him like this? There were so many things Bo could say to embarrass Luke, too many to count.

"Ha. It was _so_ funny. Here's some lemonade if you can calm down enough to drink it." Bo pushed the tray onto the counter and thrust his hands into his pockets. Why'd he always have to be the good guy?

Akari realized Bo was actually upset and got up from the floor, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Aw, I'm sorry Bo. Don't be mad!" Akari smiled sweetly at him and threw her arms around his neck.

Bo stiffened a little and turned red at this obviously-nothing-more-than-friendly gesture. Luke took Bo's redness the wrong way and ruffled his blonde hair. "C'mon Bo, there's no need to be angry at the pretty little lady. I was just telling her stories to get her to smile. Apparently stories of you are funnier than I thought!"

Akari giggled a little and immediately covered her mouth. Luke beamed, his gold eyes twinkling. Bo frowned a little at the attention he was getting. He shook it off and smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

"Alright, alright I'm not mad! Stop messing up my hair, Luke! It doesn't need your help. And Giggles, I'd like to breathe properly now, thanks."

Akari and Luke both let go and laughed, Bo smiling at the two of them. Bo had done his job; Akari had made another friend.


	4. Charmed I'm Sure

Bo was more than proud of himself. It seemed that on top of getting Akari another friend, she also got over her fear of meeting new people. Apparently, Akari was willing to try again and Luke offered to go with her. Luke had said they'd most likely be back at Akari's house by four in the afternoon, so Bo was walking over to see how things had gone.

Bo went to the door to open it, when he heard laughter and shrieks coming from down the road. He turned to see Luke carrying Akari up the hill over his shoulder with Akari pounding on his back with her fists and kicking her legs in protest.

"Mr. Lucas Riley Daniels, put me down!! I will take your precious bandana and throw it on the ground!!"

Luke jumped a little, jerking Akari and causing her to shriek. "I'm afraid I can't do that Miss Akari Eve Rease. You see, I don't respond to threats." Akari gave a "hmph!" and went limp on his shoulder.

Luke chuckled and noticed Bo was standing at the door. "Hey, Boosley! We're not late are we?" Akari immediately burst out laughing at the new nickname. Bo realized there would be a lot more where that came from.

"Nope I'm a little early. How did it go?" Luke swung Akari from his shoulder into a bridal scoop. Akari clung to Luke's neck as if for her life.

"It was actually really fun. I met everyone in Waffle Town, except a couple of people I guess. Toby showed me and Luke how to fish…that was interesting. Umm…I met all of the shop owners. Oh, and I also went back to the Sundae Inn and reintroduced myself. They felt bad for me and gave me a free piece of apple pie! Hmm…the mayor was following us around too…he's creepy not gonna lie. I think he was trying to be inconspicuous about it but…yea he was just really creepy…"

Bo was half listening to Akari talk about her day and half observing Luke. He looked too happy for just standing there with Akari in his arms. He looked…elated. Bo didn't like that at all…but why?

"And that about sums it up, I think. Right, Luke?" Luke nodded in agreement and bounced Akari in his arms, making her shriek and cling to him tighter.

"Bah, Lucas, stop it!!" Akari squealed, her head in the nape of his neck. Luke just kept smiling and began to spin around in a circle, making Akari scream and laugh and smack him in the chest.

Bo's eyebrows knit together, slightly frustrated. He had never seen Luke do this with any other girl before. Was this…was this Luke's way of flirting?

Luke stopped spinning Akari and finally set her down, her balance not up to par as she fell to the ground and scowled up at Luke. Luke and Bo openly laughed as they both helped her to her feet. Akari quickly dusted off her jeans and gave both of them evil glares.

"You're both a bunch of jerks, you know that? Especially YOU!" She exclaimed as she poked Luke right in the chest. Luke rubbed his chest and feigned hurt. "_Me_? What have _I_ done? I was nice enough to carry you up this big, steep hill to your house! It's not my fault you chose to live on top of a mountain!"

Akari crossed her arms and turned away from Luke, obviously pretending to be mad. "So Bo, since I got my farm work done so early this morning, why don't we go to Caramel Falls or something? Just you and me", Akari turned to look at Luke and turned away again, "and we can leave _someone_ all by himself because he's such a _big_, _stupid_ jer-AAHH!"

Luke had picked Akari up from the bottom of her legs and swung her over his back once more. "LUCAS! LUCAS RILEY PUT ME DOWN!" Luke smirked and winked at Bo and started heading down the path again. "Nope, nope not until you take back what you said about me being stupid."

"Never! I refuse to recant!"

"Well then, I guess a nice dunk in the river will do nicely…"

"LUCAS!! NO NO NO PUT ME DOWN! HELP!!"

"See you later, Bo!"

Bo watched as Luke made his way down the path with Akari over his shoulder, her protestant cries slowly fading as they walked farther and farther away. Bo stayed standing in the same spot, analyzing the scene he just witnessed between Akari and Luke. What was going on here?


	5. Wisdom Amongst the Flowers

Bo found himself wandering slowly around town. He had stood planted to the ground long after Akari and Luke had disappeared down the hill for Goddess knows how long. When sunset made itself known, Bo had awoken from his trance-like state and shuffled away, still trying to resolve his strange inner conflicts over the whole Akari and Luke thing.

Bo soon came upon Souffle Farm. He looked around and saw Anissa in the fields, tending to the flowers. Maybe she could help him…

"Hey, Anissa. Your flowers are looking really beautiful. How have you been?"

Anissa peered up from the flower beds, shielding her eyes from the setting sun's glare. She began to respond, but stopped short as she looked more closely at Bo.

"There's something bothering you. Come on, tell me what's wrong, I'm all ears." Anissa patted a spot next to her on the small blanket she was kneeling on.

Bo smiled and rolled his eyes. Anissa was always able to sense when someone was upset. It was like this extra sense she had been born with. Sometimes it could be annoying, but Bo had wanted to talk to her about his problem anyways…she had just made it easier for him.

Bo sat down next to Anissa on the blanket and began to tell her what had been going on over the past few days. Anissa listened attentively, sighing and laughing as the story progressed. Anissa was also a great listener. She would never turn down anyone with a story to tell or a secret they needed to confide to someone.

Finally, Bo told her about that afternoon and how confused and angry he had felt. Anissa nodded and furrowed her brow slightly as she continued tending to her flowers.

"So then I kind of just stood there for a while and finally snapped out of it…and now I'm here. What do you think?"

Anissa looked up from the flower she was currently trimming and looked straight into Bo's eyes, searching them. Bo was caught in Anissa's stare. It was as if she was trying to boar into his soul to find the answer, and Bo found himself attempting to search hers as well. Her eyes were a remarkable ruby red, slightly lighter at the center. Bo had never looked so closely at them before…

"Well", Anissa began, snapping Bo out of his mental observations, "not to be too straight forward or anything, but…I think you may have feelings for Akari. You may also just be extremely over protective but I think that would go along with your powerful feelings for her…tell me if you think I'm wrong, you know I can make mistakes…"

Anissa took her searching eyes away from Bo's and down to her flower again. Bo blinked a few times in his attempt to try to absorb Anissa's diagnosis.

"You're telling me that I…that I like Akari…more than a friend? How is that possible? She's my friend. That can't be right. No, that can't be the reason…no it's definitely not the reason…"

Anissa glanced back up with an innocent, yet knowing, smile and gently shrugged her shoulders. "I can be wrong sometimes, it happens…just...well, just be careful." Anissa gave a small sad smile. "I don't want you getting hurt and not being prepared for it, you know? I wouldn't want one of my…closest friends…getting hurt."

Bo cocked his head to the side with a puzzled expression on his face. Anissa waved her hand in front of her face and gave a small unconvincing chuckle. "Don't pay any attention to me; I don't even know what I'm saying…" She glanced toward the sky before directing her attention back to Bo.

"Its getting late", she stated as she began to pack up her tools and blanket, "I better head inside and wash up. I wish I could've been more help…I'll see you tomorrow Bo." Bo nodded and said a quiet "thank you" and "see you tomorrow" as they parted ways.

Bo began making his way back to the carpentry, alone. _Could Anissa be right? Could I feel something more than friendship for Akari…?_ As he reached Bagel Carpentry's front door, Bo could've sworn he heard voices and laughter coming from down the path to the Caramel River District.

With the thought that he might have to bare witness to another Akari and Luke moment, Bo hurried inside and quickly closed the door behind him.


	6. Trip to the River

Akari had eventually given up her feeble attempts at escaping Luke's hold and went limp against his back. She bobbed back and forth as he carried her down the hill, staring at the ground as his boots kicked back pebbles on the path behind him.

"You alive back there?" Luke joked, jerking her so she flinched and squealed. Luke laughed as Akari hit him playfully. "I won't be for long if any more blood rushes to my head! Put me down!"

Luke bent forward far enough for Akari to slide off of his shoulder and onto the ground.

Her head swam for a moment, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards. Luke caught her as she fell into him, making her blush like crazy. Lucky for her, Luke couldn't see her face hidden behind her hair.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Akari said, immediately standing herself upright as Luke stepped closer to her.

"Are you sure? I'm really sorry, Akari, I should have put you down sooner." Luke scowled at himself as Akari gave him a small punch on the arm. "Hey, it's fine. _I'm _fine see? No harm done…besides I'm on my feet enough with the farm work as it is, my feet need all the time off the ground they can get." Akari gave him a reassuring smile.

Luke smiled back and feigned hurt from the punch she gave him. "Yea, speaking of farm work, you pack quite a punch there, farm girl…you're building some _serious_ muscle from all that work. You gotta learn to control that strength of yours!"

Akari rolled her eyes and smiled, continuing the walk down the path to the river, Luke in tow.

Luke jogged up next to Akari and they walked together in a peaceful silence. Akari side glanced up at him. She had grown used to those golden eyes of his, although they could still catch her off guard and almost paralyze her on the spot. He just seemed so different, so fun…Akari smiled to herself and looked up towards the sky.

"Question, Luke. We've spent the entire day together…from what you've seen today, what do you think of me?"

Luke looked down at Akari as she continued to stare into the sky. What did he think of her? A lot of things…

"Well…you seem like a wicked cool person to hang out with…uh, you're funny…and nice…umm…" Luke scratched the back of his head and scrunched his face in concentration. Akari laughed, "Very insightful. Thank you, Luke."

Luke laughed at her light sarcasm, though the question still echoed in his mind. He furrowed his brow in thought, his lips forming a sort of pout. Akari glanced up at him and smiled.

When they reached the river, they began a game of would you rather while skipping rocks. The game got crazier as it progressed and, eventually, ended up pitting the two of them against each other in a splash war. By sunset, both were drenched through their clothes and laughing uncontrollably.

Luke looked towards the sun as it was slowly disappearing on the horizon and then down at his clothes. He grinned at Akari, "My pop is gonna kill me if he sees me like this…"

"Well we could go to the beach or something. I saw a bonfire set up on the beach and I've got some matches in my rucksack…we could go dry off down there. Or we could go back to my house and dry off. Which would you prefer?"

Luke took off his bandana and began to ring it out. "Doesn't matter to me! I'm up for anything." Akari took off her shoes and flashed a smile, a devilish glint in her amber eyes. "Race you to the beach!" And with that she took off in a sprint, shoes and rucksack in hand.

Luke immediately took off his boots and ran after her. It wasn't a fair race really, seeing as how Luke was much faster. He quickly caught up to Akari and wrapped his free arm around her.

"HEY! This is completely unfair, let me go!!" Akari squirmed, but to no avail. She glared up at him and, seeing him smile that ridiculously big smile of his, became even more agitated.

Luke laughed, "Oh, right, this is unfair, but cheating isn't? I do recall you getting a head start…I'm pretty sure that's unfair. Now we're even!"

Akari crossed her arms and couldn't resist smiling. "Well…fine! No one wins…it's a tie."

"Fine by me."

"Good."

"Great."

"Awesome."

Luke and Akari both peered at each other through one eye at the same time and started laughing. They finally made it to the beach and set up a bonfire, which, surprisingly, dried them off quickly.

The sun was almost completely down before the two set off for home. On the way, there was much pushing, laughing, picking up, hitting, and smiling to be had. Akari walked with Luke back to Bagel Carpentry, joked around for a while, said goodbye, and headed for home.

On her way back, she couldn't help smiling the entire time. He was so fun, and happy, and funny, and nice…kind of, and…

Akari stopped walking as her day flashed through her mind. When she thought of their water fight, she smiled. When she thought of their playful bantering, she smiled. When she thought of her falling, when he picked her up, and the end of the race…Akari felt herself blush and shook her head quickly, trying to erase that weird feeling.

_What was that? Was he…flirting? Was I flirting back? Do I even know _how_ to flirt? _Akari shook her head again._ Stop, stop, stop! It was fun and now its over. Right. No need to over analyze everything. Right. There isn't even anything _to_ analyze…_

When she made it back home, Akari did her nightly barn and coop check. She made sure everything was secure and locked up for the night before turning in for the day.

As she finished getting ready bed, Akari put on her pajamas and slid under the covers. She leaned over to her night stand, switched off her lamp, and stared up at her ceiling, feeling anything _but_ tired.

…_right? _


	7. Pink Distractions

Bo had been right. A few minutes after he had slipped into the Bagel Carpentry, Luke and Akari had come bounding up the path, tripping all over the place and falling into each other laughing. Bo would have assumed they'd been drinking, but he knew Akari wasn't big on that sort of thing.

Bo continued to watch them from the window until he saw Luke walking towards the entrance to the carpentry, at which point he flew from the window and into a chair at the dining room table. He pretended to be carving into a piece of wood with his pocket knife when Luke stepped into the carpentry.

"Hey Bo, what's up?" Luke grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and slid into the chair next to Bo.

"Oh, nothing much really. I just got back from Souffle Farm. I talked to Anissa for a while…I forgot how long it had been since I'd last talked with her. How was your trip to the river?"

Bo watched Luke's facial expressions. Luke smiled, but it wasn't his usual stupid grin. It was reserved, like he was smiling just to himself and thinking of everything that had happened. Bo didn't like this new kind of smile and found himself stabbing at the piece of wood in his hand more forcefully.

"It was…" Luke looked up at the ceiling, searching for the right word. "It was awesome! I've never had so much fun with a girl before. Akari is so cool, Bo, thanks for introducing us!"

Luke gave him a "thank you" smack on the back, somewhat knocking the wind out of Bo. Luke didn't truly know his own strength, not really.

"You're welcome…" Bo wheezed, trying to catch his breath again. Luke smiled his signature grin and laughed. "Ah man, it was so fun! We had a water fight, a race, sat on the beach, talked…she's just wicked cool."

Luke rested his head in his hand, staring off into space while he continued to smile. Bo glanced up at him, unsure as to why he wanted to punch him in the face so badly. Bo wasn't normally violent, so thoughts such as these really concerned him. _Why_ did he feel this way?

He could almost hear Anissa's gentle voice in his mind. _Jealousy, Bo. You're jealous. You can't help what you feel. As long as you don't act on it, it's perfectly fine to feel that way._

Fine, he was jealous. They had a good time, he was just jealous he wasn't there with them…

_Without Luke._

Bo squinted his eyes and shook his head. This "jealousy" he was feeling was ridiculous, it didn't make sense. He _wanted_ Luke and Akari to be friends. He _wanted _them to hang out together. He got what he wanted…

"…Bo?"

Bo snapped out of his thoughts and saw Luke looking at him warily.

"Yeah? What is it?" Luke cocked his head and furrowed his brow. "You were looking at me like you wanted to kill me…are you ok?"

Bo nodded his head, "Yeah just thinking, sorry." Luke's grin returned and he relaxed in the chair. Bo snuck a glance at Luke, his face displaying contentment and possibly bliss. Bo narrowed his eyes and put his head in his hands. His usually calm and reasonable nature was being disturbed by these angry and somewhat violent thoughts. Why? WHY?

_Jealousy…_

Bo slammed his hands down on the table, causing Luke to jump an inch in his chair. Bo stared at his throbbing hands and blinked madly. This was crazy. He quickly stood up as Luke continued to watch him with concern in his eyes.

"I'm going." He stated while marching to the front door. He needed to get out of there and away from Luke, at least for now. Luke swiveled his head to follow Bo's movements. "Bo…where are you-"

Bo slammed the door and power walked away towards Maple Lake. He knew Luke would be grilling him about this later, but for now he needed to be alone.

Bo had his head down as he walked down the hill towards Ben's Tree, completely lost in thought when he collided with an unexpected force. He looked up to find nothing in front of him.

"Excuse you! Goddess, can't people be more aware of where they're walking these days?"

Bo looked down to see a pink haired girl with a yellow sundress scrambling to gather all her, what looked like to be, fabrics and sewing materials. He furrowed his brow trying to put a name to her face. Had he ever even seen her before?

Ugh, now my dress is _covered _in…" The girl had looked up, her face turning from a scowl to one of awe or shock, Bo couldn't tell. The girl's face turned a slight pink and she looked at the ground while picking up the rest of her fabrics.

Bo shook off his daze and immediately began helping the pink haired girl. "I'm sorry, I really should've been watching where I was going…I've just been having a bad day and I was lost in thought…"

Bo looked up from picking rolls of silk and flax off the path to glance at the pink haired girl again. Her eyes were avoiding his, darting everywhere along the ground. She kept fidgeting with her dress and tucking imaginary strands of hair behind her ear. Bo tilted his head to see her face more clearly; was she really that mad at him?

"Hey…are you ok?" The girl's head shot up, her big sapphire eyes wide. "Me? Am I ok? Oh, umm, yes. Yes I'm fine. Just a little dirty…not that I mind I just wasn't umm…yes I'm fine…"

The girl's face went into a small scowl and she swore under her breath. Bo wasn't sure what to do; she seemed flustered, agitated, and he was slightly confused by her reactions. Suddenly he realized he was missing a key piece of information.

"I don't think I've seen you before…are you new here?" The girl looked back up at him again, her face showing something of a small embarrassed smile.

"I…yes I suppose you could say I'm new. My grandma, sister, and I moved back from the city into our old shop down in Waffle Town just a couple weeks ago."

Bo furrowed his brow again and scratched the back of his neck, trying to think. "You'd think I would've run into you earlier…I mean this island is so small, you see the same people walk by you at least 5 times a day…"

The girl giggled, her pink hair bobbing in two pigtails. Bo smiled; he made her laugh. Maybe she didn't hate him like he thought…

"So…what's your name?" The girl smiled up at him, her sapphire eyes shining now. "My name's Luna, seamstress extraordinaire!" She said jokingly while holding up a sewing needle and dramatically throwing a loose piece of cloth over her shoulder.

Bo couldn't help but laugh a little; here was this tiny pink haired girl, looking like she could be some kind of sewing super hero. This Luna girl had a bunch of different personality traits, Bo thought as he continued to look at her.

"And you're Bo, mighty carpenter and axe wielder of the forest! No tree stands a chance against you're brute strength and axe of steel." Luna giggled at whatever image she was imagining. Bo blinked a couple of times and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"How do you know my name…or that I'm a carpenter?" Luna's face turned that pink color again and averted her eyes for a moment. "Well…I've seen you around, usually when you're in Praline forest with that other guy with the blue hair…and I was at the Town Hall the other day while filling out one of those "about me" cards for the town records when I came across your card…"

Luna looked back up at him as she started tucking the invisible strands behind her ear again. Bo smiled and nodded to her. "Well, it's nice to meet you Luna." He paused and glanced down at all the materials she had been carrying, "If you want, I can help you carry some of these to wherever you were headed."

Luna smiled widely and nodded her head, "Thank you so much. I thought I could carry it all myself but its almost impossible to carry without things slipping…"

Bo and Luna walked to the Tailor shop. Bo was introduced to Shelly, the head seamstress and Luna's grandmother, as well as Candace, Luna's much shier, quieter sister.

After they dropped off the materials, they got into Luna's story of how life used to be when she had lived on the island when she was young. They walked aimlessly up through Maple Lake into the Ganache Mine District, talking and laughing all the while. Luna was really interesting, Bo had to admit. At one point it dawned on him that he hadn't even thought about the whole Akari and Luke situation once since bumping into Luna. Bo and Luna continued on this way through the rest of the afternoon. Bo smiled to himself; he was having...fun.

Anissa sat inside by the window, arranging flowers for her mother and thinking of the possible sleepover she might have with Akari later that week. As she was deciding where the baby's breath would tuck nicely, movement outside caught her attention.

Bo and the new seamstress, Luna, were walking together and laughing. Luna bumped into Bo playfully as he bumped her back, sending her way to the side. Anissa watched as Luna caught up to him again and lightly put her hand on his arm.

Anissa tore her eyes away from the sight. She breathed in and sighed, continuing to arrange flowers. She dared not look out the window again.


	8. An Interesting Encounter

_**Author's Note: Hi everyone! Ok, so I know it took me a while to update after chapter 6 so I apologize. Life happens, its annoying. Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed my story (all 5 of you lol) you don't know how much I appreciate comments! I really love getting feedback and I'm so happy that everyone is liking it so far! Also, I noticed that everyone is pairing Akari off with Luke. I'm honestly not sure who she'll pick just yet...shes a very indecisive person (I've decided this is one of her characteristics lol). But keep those ideas for a pairing for her coming considering I have absolutely no idea who shes going to be with. Anywho, thanks so much again! :D**_

_**your extremely appreciative author,**_

_**luminarayne :)**_

* * *

Akari hadn't been able to sleep at all. She had tried to get comfortable and move into every sleeping position she could think of, including half of her body on the bed while the other hung off the side, but it was no good. She had too much on her mind, too much to think about…she needed fresh air.

She changed out of her pajamas and put on the clothes she had been wearing that day. Who would she have to worry about running into at this time of night anyways? She messed with a hair to get it to calm down a bit, her bed head hair being atrocious after tossing so much, and headed outside.

Akari breathed deep; the spring night air was slightly chilling and the smell of flowers was still prominent. She hopped down from her almost non-existent front porch and started down the path.

The waves looked so inviting, as if they were beckoning her with their constant lapping on the sand. Akari plunked herself close to where she and Luke had been sitting earlier that day and looked out towards the horizon line.

The sky was almost completely clear aside from a few wispy clouds scattered amongst the stars. It was almost perfect…

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Akari jumped up from where she was sitting and turned her head in the direction of the calm and easy voice. Standing with hands in apron pockets was a boy with what appeared to be orange-peach colored hair. His head was tilted up to the sky, eyes closed.

"Umm…y-yes…I couldn't sleep so I came down to get some fresh air…it's very beautiful, by far my favorite spot on the island so far." Akari turned her head back to the skyline, her eyes still watching the peach haired boy. How long had he been standing there?

"'So far'…? Ah, so you're new here too…" He faced her and smiled, extending his hand. "I'm Chase. I just got here a couple days ago…it's been kind of difficult to adjust my internal clock to Waffle Island time so I've been coming down here every night to relax…sorry if I scared you earlier…"

Akari studied him for a second and shook his hand, smiling back. "I'm Akari, and yes I'm new here…well somewhat considering I got here a little over a week ago. I'm the new rancher."

Chase cocked his head and smiled again. "Well, Akari, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other. I'm Yolanda's apprentice and the new cook at the Sundae Inn, so we're going to be ordering a lot of produce from you in the future."

Akari puffed a strand of hair from her face, which then reminded her of how crappy she looked. Thank god it was dark…

"Yea…see, I'm not so good at this whole ranching thing right now…my animals aren't too fond of me…_especially _my horse…I think she wants me dead…" Chase shook his head and laughed. "I doubt she wants you _dead_…just give it some time, things will get better."

Akari looked up at him again. This person…Chase…reminded her a lot of how friendly Luke and Bo had been when she first met them. The people on this island were all so friendly and encouraging…

She was brought out of her thoughts by Chase waving his hand in front of her face. "Hey there, space cadet, welcome back." Akari scratched the side of her face in embarrassment. She was good at looking like an idiot, that's for sure…

"Sorry, sorry I was just thinking about, the umm, the…" Chase watched her as she attempted to find the right words.

"The…water? Sand? Stars?"

"Yes! Well all of them, yea. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Chase looked towards the ocean again and sighed. "Well, I think I'm gonna head back home. See you around." And with that Chase turned away without any kind of nod or smile or anything.

Akari stared after him, not sure if she had offended him or bored him or if it was anything she had done at all. _What kind of goodbye was that? Was that normal?_ Akari sat there, confused and staring after him. Eventually he disappeared and she was left alone to her thoughts.

…_what the hell?_

After sitting for another twenty minutes or so, Akari headed home, all the while thinking of Chase and his strange goodbye…or lack there of. When she got closer to home, the rancher noticed that her mailbox flag had been sticking up. _I must have missed it earlier today… _she thought to herself as she opened the mailbox and found a single letter.

It was addressed to a "Miss Reese" at "4 Caramel Lane". Akari arched her eyebrows in surprise; she hadn't even been aware that her house had an address…

She opened the letter and began to read:

_Dear Miss Reese,_

_I have been informed that you have not yet filled out an information card for our town's records. This action was supposed to have been completed the day of your arrival to Waffle Island and the Town Hall now requests your presence. Your information card must be filled out before the date of Spring 9. If this action is not completed by the set date, there will be consequences._

_Also, as it is your duty as the new rancher, I will need to discuss the shipping conditions as well as other farming terms with you. I also apologize for not meeting with you sooner; I have been away on business in my father's stead and would like to properly introduce myself._

_In case you do not know where we are located, I have included a map with directions. They are as simple and basic as I could make them, although they still may cause you confusion. If this occurs, I apologize and I hope you do not have too much trouble locating us. I look forward to your visit to the Town Hall._

_Sincerely,_

_Gilligan T. Hamilton_

Akari ran her hand through her tousled brown hair and let out a big puff of air. This wasn't what she had planned on doing tomorrow…

She reached into the envelope again and grabbed a folded piece of paper. She opened it to find the map this "Gilligan" person had promised. She looked it over and was immediately agitated.

The map was like the one the mayor had given her when she had first arrived, except there was a thick red line, as if it was drawn with a crayon or something, leading from her house, which read "YOU ARE HERE" over it in big bold black letters, through a small portion of Waffle Town. The line ended with an enormous red arrow pointing to a building at the top of a hill with the word "END". Golden stars were placed all around the Town Hall as well as additional small red arrows.

Akari crumpled the map as she vented inwardly. _What an arrogant jerk! Does he think because I'm a rancher that I'm an idiot?! That I don't have a good education?! This is ridiculous…_

Akari let out a sigh as she entered her house. Not only did she meet someone new who completely confused her already, but now she had to meet with the pompous mayor's son.

_Great…tomorrow will be great…_


	9. The Chicken Or The Egg

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm sorry I'm so slow. From the combination of computer viruses and laziness, this chapter was way overdue. Sorry!! Also, I would really appreciate ideas for the story (it'd make it easier to write and also quicker to update!!) so PLEASE if you have any ideas or suggestions for this, let me know! I need all the help I can get when I get writer's block (which is often :p) Soooo anyways thanks for reading and I hope I get some suggestions! Thank you so much to everyone who has time to review I really really really appreciate it :)**

**Thanks Again!**

**~Luminarayne (aka Lauren) :)**

* * *

Luke opened his eyes to find the sun's blaring rays coming through his bedroom window. Luke groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, hoping the sun would just disappear for a few more hours. Loud banging erupted from outside his door along with roaring shouts from none other than Dale.

"Luke," Dale roared while pounding his fist against the door, "get up, boy! We have work to do!" Luke groaned a loud and elongated "no", but knew what would happen if he didn't do as his father wanted. When Dale told you to do something, you did it or else.

Luke slowly made his way out of bed, untangling himself from the sheets and blanket. He dragged himself to his dresser; taking a look in the small mirror he had hanging above it. Groggily peering at himself, he ran his hands over his face and once through his always disheveled spiked hair. His dad had tried combing and gelling it for a wedding once…in the end Luke's hair won and the comb was stuck in place until he ran it under hot water at home after the ceremony. Luke smiled to himself at the memory and got dressed quickly, throwing on a white t-shirt he had laying on his nightstand and a pair of work jeans.

Luke slid down the staircase railing, now fully awake and ready to take down a forest, ten trees at the least. Dale stood in the kitchen making eggs and toast for breakfast. Bo sat at the table, drinking orange juice and staring out the window. Luke remembered Bo's freak out from the day before and looked at him, searching for some sign of stress or anger or something.

He was surprised to see a relaxed smile on his face as he continued to stare out at nothing in particular. Luke shrugged to himself and grabbed the carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator, taking a huge gulp and quickly putting it back. Luke grabbed the mayonnaise and took three pieces of toast, spreading it thickly on each slice and stuffed them in his mouth, taking 30 seconds for breakfast as usual. Bo didn't even give him that slightly disgusted look he always gave him for eating mayo with toast in the morning; he just continued to stare out the window, smiling.

"Hey, Pops, I think I'm gonna go hang out with Akari and help out with her farm work today after work if that's ok. She was telling me about all the strawberries she just planted and she's kinda scrawny so I figure she'll want the help."

Dale nodded as he ate his eggs and read the newspaper, obviously not paying much attention to what Luke was saying. Dale got that way when he was focused on something; Luke could say he was going to leave town and never come back and his father would respond the same way.

Luke glanced at Bo again who was also in his own little world, still smiling. He'd have to ask him about that later…but for then, he had to get his work done fast so he could go help sooner. Maybe they'd hang out again afterwards…

Luke headed out to Praline Forest and, within four hours time, took down twenty trees and chopped them into nice, even pieces. Drenched in sweat, Luke began his walk down to Akari's house. She wouldn't mind if he was sweaty…he was sure she'd look the same by now.

Luke bounded up to her door, thinking she must be inside since she wasn't in the field working. He was about to knock when he heard voices coming from down the path. He turned to see Akari flanked by Gill and the new cook, Chase. Luke frowned slightly at the scene.

Akari was laughing her full out laugh, where her eyes squint shut and her nose scrunches up. Chase and Gill looked like they were bickering over something, their gestures becoming more and more animated along with their facial expressions.

When Akari seemed to calm down enough to open her eyes all the way, her face lit up in recognition at the sight of the carpenter on her doorstep and bounded full force towards him. Gill and Chase seemed confused and, when realizing her reason for speeding up, ran after her with slight scowls on their faces.

Akari ran up to Luke, half tripping over herself, and stopped just before slamming into him. "Hey, Luke! What's up?" Luke smiled at her cheeriness. "Oh, not much, I just came over to see if you needed any help with all the strawberries you planted. It looked like a lot of work so I figured I'd come over and help you out!"

Akari smiled and shook her head, "Thanks for the offer Luke, but I took care of it this morning before I went to meet Gill. You know Gill and Chase, right?" Luke, having almost forgot they were with her, looked over to see the two slightly hunched over and panting. Luke smiled at both of them, only to see they were both glaring at one another. Luke's smile faded as he turned back to Akari, mouthing the question "What's with them?" and was answered with a smile and a "You'll see…"

Gill, being the first to completely catch his breath, stood up and readjusted his sweater vest. Being satisfied with his clothes, he looked Luke up and down once and turned away from him to glare properly at Chase. "I don't _care _if the egg hatches the chicken! How did the egg get there in the first place, _hmm_? Explain that to me. Did it just _materialize_ out of thin air? There had to be a _chicken_ in the _first_ place in order to_ lay_ said egg. Obviously, without the chicken there would _be_ no egg. Therefore, the _chicken_ came first." Gill said snidely, looking smug with his solution.

Chase looked up at Gill, rolling his eyes as he stood up as well. "Where did that chicken _come_ from, Gill? Did the chicken _pop_ out of _nowhere_? No, I'm sure it didn't. It makes more sense if the egg appeared, as it's not already breathing and clucking about…"

Luke stared at the cook and the mayor's son, wondering how long this had been going on. He scratched the back of his head, beginning to wonder which one actually _did_ come first…

"No, wait, I have it!" Gill interrupted Chase, agitating him further. Chase crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "The chicken did not just _appear_; it evolved over time from other species!" Chase quickly butted in, "But, if the chicken evolved from other species, where did that chicken come from? Animals don't just _morph_, Gill, they have to be _born_ with the altered DNA. So tell me, in order to make your statement true, how was that evolved chicken brought into the world? In order to truly be a chicken, it had to come from an _egg_. Thus, _the egg_ came first."

Gill narrowed his eyes at Chase. "What would_ you_ know about DNA, Chase?" Gill sneered, "I'm almost _positive_ they don't teach that in Cooking School. The only thing you really know about chickens and eggs is how to cook them, and poorly might I add."

This comment obviously pushed Chase over the edge as they began to fight like school boys, calling each other names and making snide remarks that were unrelated to the topic of eggs and chickens. Luke turned away from the two to look at Akari, who was smiling and shaking her head back and forth. Akari looked at Luke and began to talk quietly as Gill and Chase continued to argue, now making hand gestures like they had been doing earlier.

"They've been at it since Gill and I went to grab some lunch at the Sundae Inn. Somehow eggs and chickens came up and they started bickering about them…I got lost for the most part but watching them fight was too entertaining to me so I didn't bother trying to stop them. They're so nice when they're apart, but get them together and I guess it's like a verbal battle royale…"

Luke nodded in silence, feeling slightly awkward as the two continued to fight while he and Akari stood as onlookers. Luke noticed Akari stepping towards them, clapping her hands together. "Alright, alright, enough! You both lose and you're both ridiculous." Chase and Gill stopped mid-bicker, turning towards the smiling farmer as she started laughing again.

Chase returned her smile, "I'm sorry Akari. When I'm around pompous idiots, I tend to argue with them. It's like a natural instinct; it can't be helped." Chase stated as he glanced sideways at Gill, giving him a smug smile.

Gill narrowed his eyes at the cook. "Well, when I'm around cocky low-class cooks, I get the same way. It's a shame that we've acquired one on our island. If only father hadn't felt pity for this unemployed outcast…"

Chase and Gill turned to glare at each other once more before turning on their heels, muttering incoherent nothings about the other as they went their separate ways. Luke was thinking about the chicken and the egg when Akari snapped him out of his thoughts with a nudge.

He looked down to find her smiling up at him. "Sorry about that…I didn't know it would go on for that long but I couldn't make myself break it up earlier…so thanks again for coming by and standing through that whole bit."

Luke smiled back and made a "no problem" gesture with his hand. He was slightly confused though… "Akari, I didn't know you were friends with them. When did that happen?"

Akari puffed her bangs out of her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I don't know if you'd call us friends…but I met Chase last night at the beach…he was still jet lagged and, as I found out today, wicked out of it when I met him. I had to go see Gill this morning about some kind of information card I hadn't known about. He had sent me this really arrogant letter, but when I met him he didn't seem so bad. He was kind of stand offish at first but as we talked he warmed up quite a bit. He asked me if I wanted to grab some lunch and when we walked in to the Sundae Inn, Chase came over and apologized for last night. Somehow Gill and Chase got into an argument and now…well, here we are."

"Ohhhh…I gotcha. Wow, you make friends fast, maybe even faster than me!" Luke smiled at Akari as she smiled and gave him a wink. "Who knows? For some reason I felt like a social person today…all I know is that having those two around will be interesting…" Akari giggled at Luke's "ohhhh yeah…" expression.

"Luke, let's go do something. I'm not tired yet and I haven't properly hung out with you today…but what shall we do…?" Luke watched Akari ponder for a minute until she snapped her head back up, Luke visualizing a light bulb lighting up.

"Let's go for a walk. We can just walk around the island and talk, if that's ok with you." Luke had no problem with her idea, so the two set off together. They talked and laughed and teased each other just like the last time they had hung out together.

They walked the entire island once and, when the sun began to set, they stopped at Souffle Farm to watch the sunset. Luke and Akari sat themselves up on the fence; the flowers turned to black silhouettes as the sun went down, seemingly disappearing in to sea. The two sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the cool spring breeze.

"Hey, Akari?" Luke turned towards her, his face becoming serious. Akari turned to him, their faces inches apart.

"Yeah, Luke?"

"What came first; the chicken or the egg?"

And with that, Akari shoved Luke off the fence, the sun completely disappearing from the sky.


	10. Silver Lining on Lightening

**Author's Note: This has taken far too long, but I'm back, I swear! I've got all the time in the world now that its summer. This chapter is dedicated to Ayras :) sorry if it's kinda sucky, I have to get back into writing. One step at a time I guess!**

**-Luminarayne (Lauren) **

* * *

Anissa eyes shot open, the sound of cracking thunder boomed in her head while her room immediately lit up from a flash of lightening.

She blinked a couple times in an attempt to clear her eyes of sleepy haze and turned her head to look at the gloomy dawn, thunder once again filling her ears and lightning splitting the sky right after.

After a minute of staring out the window at the overcast world, Anissa suddenly reached for her calendar. Realizing what day it was, she groaned and ran her hand down her face in aggravation. Why did it have to thunder and lightening today?

This had only happened twice before in all the years she had lived on Waffle Island and, knowing her duties as Flower Festival Coordinator, had to be the one to deliver the message of postponement to the Town Hall…in the rain.

Anissa let out a long, heavy sigh and put on her rain boots and matching blue rain coat. Grabbing her umbrella, she made her way out into the horrible weather.

The rain was relentless, making it almost impossible for her to see more than a foot in front of her while the unsettling closeness of the lightening occasionally made her jump. Along with the storm, Anissa couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, but she didn't dare stop.

As she made her way into the Maple Lake District, a large bolt of lightening hit Ben's Tree, causing Anissa to freeze in fear underneath, screaming and holding her sides. The sound of wood snapping made Anissa look up, just in time to see a large branch hurdling towards her. She couldn't move; all she could do was stare with wide eyes.

She felt a sharp pull on her arm, her eyes still locked on the branch that fell and split right where she had been standing seconds earlier. Anissa found that she was able to blink and, noticing the pressure on her arm had vanished, began to search for whatever, or whoever, had saved her.

There was no one around, nothing that would give any clue that there had been someone there. Streams of water were flowing down her face, making her aware of the fact that she was standing in the middle of the path in the pouring rain, her umbrella, she noticed, lay open a couple feet away from her.

After picking up her umbrella, Anissa continued her walk to the Town Hall in a daze, not actually feeling her feet hit the ground when she stepped, the sound of rain and thunder seemed quiet in her ears.

Finally reaching the Town Hall, Anissa slipped the notice through the slit in the door and made her way back home. Once she was safely inside, she quietly made her way to her room and shut her door behind her.

Everything hit her at once.

She began crying hysterically, slumping against her door with her head in her hands to try to muffle the sound. _I could've died…I could've died right there… _continued to echo through her mind as she cradled her head, rocking herself to calm down.

When she was finally able to calm down enough to get up, Anissa walked over to the window, resting her head against the cool pane and staring out into the rain. No one would have even found out until the morning…she would have been laying under a broken tree limb, bloody and drained.

She shuddered at the thought, then lightly touched the arm the stranger had grabbed to pull her out of the way. Wincing at the pain she felt, she lifted her sleeve to find a giant bruise in the shape of fingers. Whoever it was had been extremely strong…

Anissa smiled to herself. Someone had saved her, someone had been her knight in shining armor, coming to her rescue…someone out there was, possibly, watching out for her. She tucked an invisible hair behind her ear at the thought; this kind of stuff only happened in the romance novels and love stories she constantly immersed herself in last summer, when she wasn't tending to the crops of course.

She'd have to tell Akari at their sleepover tomorrow…maybe they could try to solve this mystery together and find out who her possible protector was. The thought was enough to make Anissa squeal in excitement, skip-step-and leap into her bed and let her mind race, thinking of all the possibilities and wonderful "what-if's" revolving around her rescuer.

The rain drenched Akari to the bone as she made her way over to Bagel Carpentry. She, Luke, and Bo were supposed to all go to the Flower Festival together, but Akari was pretty sure it was going to be postponed. Looking at flowers is great, sure, but in this much rain and lightening there wouldn't be much of a turn out.

As she rounded the bend, Akari saw Luke and Bo poking their heads out the door, yelling to her to hurry inside. She ran up the stairs and, being Akari, tripped on the last step, causing her to fly through the doorway head first.

Luke and Bo were completely caught off guard as Akari head butted Luke in the chest, causing him to fly backwards into Bo, who in turn flew backwards into the desk. There was a series of groans and pain induced swearing as the three lay in a heap in the middle of the carpentry.

Bo began coughing, regaining his ability to breath after having the wind knocked out of him from the back and the front. "Well, Akari, there….there's never a dull moment…when you're around…that's for sure.", Luke managed to say, beginning to remove himself from the crumpled heap.

"Ouch, Luke. Way to be like a freaking rock, my head is killing me…could've given me a concussion or something!" Akari half joked, rubbing her head, peering up at him out of one eye and smiling.

Luke smiled back at her, holding out his hand for her to take. When they were both up, they looked to Bo, who was still trying to breathe properly. "C'mon, Boo-bear. Man up and breathe!" Luke smiled wide and pulled Bo to his feet. Bo put his hands on his knees for support, only able to glare at Luke for the moment.

Akari peered outside, thunder booming loud overhead while lightening followed suit. She looked back at her two favorite carpenters and sighed, "Well…looks like the Flower Festival is out…who wants to make cookies?"

Luke's eyes lit up. "YES! Cookies are awesome!", he exclaimed, thrusting both arms outwards. Unfortunately for Bo, who finally caught his breath, stood up straight and was punched right in the side of the head.

He fell back to the ground as Luke, oblivious to what he had just done, rushed into the kitchen to get all the ingredients together. Akari rushed over to Bo's side, putting her hand where he had been hit and applied light pressure. Bo moaned in pain and grabbed for her hand. "Ah, Bo, you poor thing…"

He waved away her comment with his free hand and smiled, eyes squinted shut, "This happens all the time. I'm surprised I don't have some sort of brain damage from Luke's excitement bursts by now…"

Luke popped his head out of the kitchen, looking around to find Bo on the floor, "Again, Bo? What is it with you and the ground lately? Hurry up, I've got everything out!"

Luke disappeared into the kitchen once again, jokingly singing "Gravity…is working against meeee!" out of tune. Akari laughed and, seeing that Bo was actually ok, helped him to his feet. "C'mon, those cookies aren't gonna make themselves!"


End file.
